Life is make believe, fantasy given form

To Hunt a Sub – Book Review

To Hunt a Sub is Jacqui Murray’s debut fiction novel and what a read it is.

A nuclear sub goes missing and retired Navy intel officer, Zeke Rowe, is called in to help with the investigation. It turns out that a cybervirus is the culprit. What Rowe can’t figure out was who did it or how to stop the perpetrator from sinking every submarine in the fleet. He joins forces with Kali Delamagente, the developer of an AI named Otto whose unique ability is compiling clues and finding things – like ancient people, kidnappers, and modern subs.

Rowe’s not the only one whose interested in the subs or Otto’s capabilities. Bent on destroying America, a terrorist is making Kali’s life miserable, breaking into her lab, hacking her computer, and making hostages out of those she loves. He nails warnings to the dead bodies of anyone who gets too close. As the terrorist ring closes in, time is running out and the stakes are rising.

One thing I enjoyed about this read is the technical reality Murray created for both the scientific and military aspects of the book. I completely believed the naval and investigatory hierarchy and protocols, as well as the operation inside the sub. I was fascinated by her explanation of Otto’s capabilities, the security efforts Kali employs to protect her data, and how she used Otto’s data to help Rowe.

If that all sounds like too much science, the characters are also well-rounded human beings with colorful histories and rich emotional palettes. There’s a little romantic attraction thrown in for fun though it isn’t a main focus of the story. The plot is high energy and complex with twists that require the reader to pay attention.

To Hunt a Sub is an entertaining novel for anyone who enjoys military thrillers. A well-written read and great fun!

Jacqui Murray

About the Author:
J Murray blogs at Worddreamsand has wonderful tips for writers. She is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of over a hundred books on integrating tech into education, adjunct professor of technology in education, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today’s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher’s website, Structured Learning.

This sounds very appealing to me. I have to admit at first I was concerned it might be too technical but mentioning how well rounded the characters are, I’d have no problem following the storyline. The plots is intriguing.

I wouldn’t normally pick out a military thriller either, Kev, but reading the books of other bloggers has broadened my interests. And I like great characters. If the characters are interesting, complex human beings, I’m game 🙂 Thanks for the comment, my friend. ❤

Thanks, Carrie. I liked that part too. I’m so glad to have the indie transition done and new creative adventures in the works. I miss your routine posts, but hope you are enjoying lots of writing time! ❤

I so relate to this. I’ve stopped order from Netgalley because I won’t get to the books for months. I did just order two Indies today, from blogging friends, which sound so good they’ll be pushed ahead of my others.

Not often that my surname is used for a character. I may change my first name to Zeke. 😀
Sounds like a good read – I shall add it to the list (although the kindle app on my phone is starting to over-flow!)

No-one’s ever called me Nero (thankfully!). Zero doesn’t quite work in the UK because I’d be Zedro!
In one of my first jobs, however, one of the guys said, “Nick Rowe? Sounds like a prison.” Yeah, thanks for that mate… luckily that didn’t catch on either!
😉

Ah, they tend to balance out fine. One hefty novel (Diana’s) and a sci-fi short story collection on my kindle app; and then on paper there’s a history of Bletchley Park (WW2 codebreakers) and the first QI book (a re-read; Diana knows about QI because I sent her loads of moon ‘facts’ from the tv series).

Thanks, Lovey. I’d love to visit your blog. I think it’s about food, but I’m wondering if you mix in your love of communication and what sounds like (from your profile) research. If you get a chance, would you add a link?

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